Green Day
By Nathan Blaney
Thursday. Sep 15, 9:26 AM
live at Giants Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ) Sept. 1st, 2005.
This show was an interesting experience for me for several reasons. My afternoon began with spending about two hours chasing down first my ticket, then my credentials, and then finding somebody – anybody – who knew where I should enter the arena! Apparently, the ticket agents, security, and management don’t communicate. Literally. I had a very nice security woman explain to me that the people with the answers were way down there (she points), but her radio only lets her talk to those folks (points again, in the opposite direction). Anyway, after running around like a fool and ending up a sweaty mess (lugging 25 lbs. of camera gear around didn’t help), I wound up back with the woman where a supervisor informed me that I’d have to wait there and be escorted in and out between bands. Finally! Someone with an answer!
Against Me!, the openers, were musically an excellent choice. Poppy stuff very much in the same vein as the two bands who would follow them. However, their presence and performance was much more suited to the small club stage. I can see why a band might jump at the chance for an opening slot on this tour, however these guys just didn’t seem ready. All in all, kind of boring.
I was very disappointed that Jimmy Eat World were only marginally better. They opened with “Pain,” which I happen to think is a fantastic song. The song fell flat. I wasn’t even sure what song they were playing at first. Guitarist/vocalist Jim Adkin was the only remotely animated one in the group. It was almost like someone woke these guys up 20 minutes before and said “get out there, you’re on now!” All in all, a mediocre performance. I’m hoping they were just having an off day. I’ll give them another chance, though, if I get to see them sometime in the future.
Green Day were an entirely different story for several reasons. First of all, this show was 15 years since I’d first seen them. On that first occasion, it was during one of their early tours: all crammed into a van and sleeping on top of all their gear. They were in RI to play at Living Room with local band Voice Of Reason. I ran into them at the beach and they invited me to a house party, provided I could loan them my bass amp to play with. With only about a dozen people in attendance, I think I can safely say I’ve seen Green Day perform in one of their smallest shows ever. From what I understand, their show at Giants Stadium was their largest audience ever: 50,000 people. I’d never seen that many people together in one place before. Pretty amazing. I can tell you that I think one of Green Day’s strongest points is that, from some kid’s basement to a medium sized club to an enormous stadium, these guys have always put on a consistently tight, energetic show. Sure, these days much of it is scripted, but it suits them well. They were always rock stars of the U2/Rolling Stones variety anyway, but now they can do it for real. I do have to say I was a bit surprised by the pyrotechnics, but whatever.
But what about the music? Hmm… well, that’s a bit of a sore point. As a photographer, I expect to get booted from the front after a couple songs – in this case, “American Idiot” and “Jesus of Suburbia” – it’s standard practice. The annoying part was that they would not let the photographers with regular tickets enter the crowd with their gear… how in the world does this make sense? Do they think we’d even bother shooting from our way far away seats when we just got done shooting right under their feet? I blame it on the same lack of communication that made me run around like a crazy person when I got there. So as a result, I couldn’t even give the ticket away outside and can’t comment on the rest of their set other than to speculate that, if the rest of the show was as dynamic as the first two songs, then everyone certainly got their money’s worth!
www.greenday.com
Nathan Blaney
Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.
live at Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY) April 3rd, 2008.
live at Paradise (Boston, MA) April 3rd, 2008.
live at Paradise (Boston, MA) March 18th, 2008.
Grand Ole Party, Keyshia Cole, Another Animal.
at Masonic Temple (Brooklyn, NY) Jan. 25th, 2008.
Closing one chapter and opening another.
Fails to capture a strong emotion from either side of their musical blueprint.
Creating a whole new vocabulary to their language.
Willing to do it when no one else will.
Not afraid to tread the waters of pop innocence.
Thank you for joining our forums merely to post this article. If you wanted to have this article read by more people it would have been better to submit it to the owners of greenday.co.uk, who could have then posted this as a news article on the main site.
by the way, Milton Keynes has a capacity of 64,000 so I think that counts as their largest gig to date.
Jason White plays second guitar, not Terry. Terry was in Mike Dirnt's side band, The Frustrators.
I definitley agree with you on the lack of communinicatio that Giants Stadium had that night.I missed Against me! and Jimmy Eat world because of it. In the end it was well worth it they alot of new and old songs and this was my thrid time seeing them live and well I think it was there best performance.
yes i agree with u I missed Against me! because of the parkin and where to find my seat. but the crowd was awesome! i loved it! definitley one of the best shows ive been to!
i agree with you quys i missed Against Me! and i was very diapointed. But i got there just in time for Jimmy eat World, and they were great.
and of course so was Green Day!
I will all ways remember this concert!!
hey this is a cool review but milton keynes was the biggest show ever with 65,000 ppl :P
I have a correction - I was at that show and Billie Joe said it was their biggest show in *America,* not "ever." Milton Keynes was probably one of their largest, not to mention their previous tours to Japan, etc. But otherwise, great article.
p.s. Hi Netty!!!
I went and saw there concert in may in madison,Wisconsin and I just saw their concert wednesday in Quad Cities and It was Awesome. Alot of people dont like them at my school.They say they would like them if they did another album like dookie. i hate that!! But O well there fuckers. To me Green Day IS still punk and will always be punk. Hopefully they keep on doin shows and making albums!!
i've never been on a NICE-GOOD-GREAT concert :( please take me!D:
I thought the performance by Jimmy Eat World was ok. I mean they don't have alot of stage pressence, but they sounded pretty good. (I missed Against Me!) Green Day played AWESOME, but I have to say that the pyro and fireworks were WAY over done! Don't get me wrong an explosion here and there was a nice touch, but they seemed to blow up everything they could find! The ending seemed to be dragged out especially long. But other than that I have no complaints! Green Day played amazing and Jimmy Eat World can use work on their live show, but I see potential!
I have been to a few Green Day concerts i have to say this was probably my favorite. My favorite parts was when Billie Joe started toughing himself - sexiest thing ive even seen
I HAVE NO CRITISM AT ALL. THE SHOW AT GIANTS STADIUM WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY FRIGGIN LIFE. BILLIE JOE, MIKE AND TRE ARE ALL AWESOME. I HOPE THEY COME BACK TO NJ SOON :)
GREEN DAY IS THE BOMB! THEY ROCK THE SHOW!!!!
Yeah, so I went to the Green Day show in St. Paul, MN @ the Alerus Center, and I'd have to tell you, I saw something pretty crazy, as well as everyone else there. Green Day does a cover of Operation Ivy's "knowledge" at about every show and it's very entertaining. They get kids up from the audience to play the 3 chord song and have a good time. The crazy part about this time seeing it was that at the end of the song, the kid that was playin the bass guitar totally smashes it on the stage, breaking it in half, security guards come running out and everything. Mike Dirnt just kinda looks at him like "What the F*CK!" as the security guards drag him backstage. Mike then comes up to the mic and says "What an ass*ole, I kinda liked that bass too, whatever, it's gone now." That was pretty much the craziest part of the night, besides seeing Billie Joe's buttocks.
~Wang
I POSTED SUMTHI NALREADY BUT I JUST WANNA SAY, BILLIE JOE, MIKE, TRE IF U READ THIS, I WANT YOU TO KNOW UR SHOW REALLY CHANGED MY LIFE. I MEAN I AM GOIN TO AN MCR CONCERT AND IM FRIGGIN SCARED THAT I WONT ENJOY IT CUZ ITLL HAVE TO BE AS GOOD AS YOURS!! COEM BACK TO NJ!!! LYL!
xc
In Spain there aren't concerts like this, it's pretty sad because I went to a concert they made in Barcelona and I really enjoyed, but now I'm reading what the people says about the concerts in America and I'm really HATING my country :'( hahaha
That was the best concert i have ever been to! The special effects just blew me away! I was there for all 3 bands. Against Me was pretty good. But Jimmy Eat World and Green Day were the best. Especially Green Day!
I think green day is the best band ever. they should Be president for a day or something...
i love green day even though yea the band is political and some people dont like that. too bad. i love it very much.
the show was simply amazing...without a doubt the best concert ive ever been 2...i am like green days #1 fan since day 1 and this show was fantastic...and for all you ppl that thought it was okay...YOURE FUCKIN AMERICAN IDIOTS!!! green day rocks!!! keep it real guys
I just LOVE Green Day.They are the best band in this whole FUCKING WORLD!!!!!!!!
For you people who think Green Day is only ok. YOU"RE FUCKING RONG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saw them @ Milton Keyens England,the show was phenominal puting our big bands to shame, would love to do an American stadium gig- who knows maybe next tour!!
greenday is beeter than jimmy eat world i was there and they ruled!!!!!!!!!
greenday is the best band ever and billie joe is the hottest guy ever
While I love Green Day, one thing I dont like about them is how they play the same set and do the same thing every single show. It gives me the feel its more like an act than a rock show. Im not a big Dave Matthews fan, but I cant help but respect him for doing a different set every night. I was also disappointed by the lack of concert etiquette from some of the fans, and I got the feel there were more American Idiot fans there, than Green Day fans.
hey green day on september 19th waz my birthday and i am telling u to wake up because september is over.
wake up september is over and my birthday waz on the 19th.
I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!I LOVE GREENDAY!!!!!!
I was ata concert from Green Day in Austria and this was really the greatest day of my life!
Thank you Billie Joe,Trč and Mike!!!!!!
Love U forever
Green Day
is so cool I wish I could go to one of thier concerts but to bad so sad it sucks to be me.... I guess.
I am on my friend's email.
The concert was fantastic. I seriously wished I was one of the people that can go on stage. Ah, oh well...anyways, all in all, Jimmy Eat World didn't sound too fantastic and all, but the concert was still the best one I've ever been to.
I was at that concert and it was AWESOME!!! I don't know what the hell that photographer guy was saying, but nothing can get better that 5 hours of live Green Day. The first band that played sucked, and nobody knew who they were, but Jimmy Eat World was good, and they finished with their 2nd best song, The Middle. But that just led up to Green Day. They started with playing some new songs like American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, St. Jimmy, etc, but then went on to their better punk stuff like Longview, King for A Day (were Billie Joe wore the crown and cape) and She. Holiday was fun with everyone screaming, "Can I get another amen, AMEN!!!!...." Anyway, at the end they played Boulevard of Broken Dreams and then closed the show with Good Riddance. I can't believe they didn't play When I come Around or Welcome To Paradise, which are two of their best songs!
they are the best rock band so all who say other words can kiss my a** ok cause they rock hard and you know it p.s billie joe is the hottie of the moth september - august all years to come !!!!!!!!!
GREEN IS THE BEST EVER SO ALL OF YOU BETTER KNOW THAT OR WE ARE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS THEY ARE THE BEST BAND EVR SO FUCK YOU ALL HOW DOES NOT THINK THAT CAUSE ALL YOU GIRLS OUT THERE KNOE YOU WANT SOME OF BILLIE JOES ASS HE IS SO HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO THE ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hi,
greenday i like your song very much plz send your photo
i dont think jimmy eat world is a bad as you said. they were very good. the second gutarist for green day is jason white, not terry but anyway, it was a great show
none wut so everm i love you greenday!! Billiejoe i kiss the ground you walk on!!!! lorenz